Israel has turned down an offer from Hamas of a videotape to prove Corporal Gilad Shalit, a soldier held captive in Gaza Strip, was alive in return for the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli political source said on Sunday.

Shalit was captured last June in a cross-border raid by Palestinian fighters, including from Hamas. The source said Hamas had made the offer and that Israeli PM Ehud Olmert replied that "for the price they wanted for the tape we said, we would rather receive the person (Shalit)."

According to Maariv daily, Olmert refused to release prisoners just for a video of Shalit.

On Thursday, a senior Hamas official, Mussa Abu Marzuk, said that Shalit was alive and that a recording of him had been handed over to Israeli authorities.